I've got a couple of dents I'm going to remove from a door pocket and l want to remove it from the door to work on, can l get some pointers! It seems to only be secured at the corners and at the moment I have carefully drilled with a 5mm bit in what l think is a spot weld, is that drill bit large enough? I'm also struggling trying to identify the spot welds any tips? I've invested in a set of spot weld drill bits, hoping to get them sometime this week

_________________
SPO41 Mk2 Cooper S very original
1993 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR

I have only just got around to removing door pockets and I can let you know there is more than just couple of spot welds on the corners sand down the lip and run your finger along or use a light you will spot the tell tale markings, either that or as you gently start to pry it up you will find where it is held and can drill as you go?

Weird gently prying with a screwdriver there isn't any spot welds along the bottom only at the corners and sides, must of been some of that bmc quality control,what size drill bit did u find the best?

_________________
SPO41 Mk2 Cooper S very original
1993 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR

tbh I can't remember I just grabbed it out of the toolbox but it was a spotweld removal bit not a drill bit, you will most likely punch holes straight through if you use a normal drill bit. Even using a spot weld bit I still managed to put holes through as you can see in the pic with the pocket removed

Here is another set of pockets so you can see the weld pattern is not uniform it really depends on what type of day the guy is having I guess?

Most of my spot weld drills are 6mm, 7mm, 7.5mm and 8mm. The 7.5mm is the one I use most.

_________________
1963 Morris 850 Smoke Grey
1963 Morris 850 Shadow Blue
1965 Morris Mini Smooth Van
1966 Morris Mini Van
1969 Morris Mini Deluxe Resto
5/72 Clubman Gt

Cheers guy managed to get them off with a normal drill bit and a light tap of a chisel there was only maybe 6 or 7 spot welds must of been a Friday arvo when they made it!

_________________
SPO41 Mk2 Cooper S very original
1993 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR

Ok round 2! Practice piece tell me what you think good and bad, the patch slightly became convexed, l only noticed this when l finished the patch with a straight edge. What caused this to much heat or shrinking of the metal? I managed to straighten it out with a dolly





Thanks again to everyone which has contributed to this thread thus far.

_________________
SPO41 Mk2 Cooper S very original
1993 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR

The heat will make it move all over the place.

_________________
1963 Morris 850 Smoke Grey
1963 Morris 850 Shadow Blue
1965 Morris Mini Smooth Van
1966 Morris Mini Van
1969 Morris Mini Deluxe Resto
5/72 Clubman Gt

An old trick I was taught at my car resto course was too weld then tap with hammer weld tap etc all supported by a Dolly.

This shrinks any expansion caused by the heat from the welder.

Also let your welds cool to the touch before you do the next one.

Also you can put a heat spot in the middle of the buldge then tap with a wodden Mallet supported by a lead dolly
Its a buldge on the other side

Also what happened to the panel is normal when welding panel steel. It gets worse with small patches.

If you could tap it flat then you did a good job of controlling the heat

Looks micky mouse mate. Well done

_________________
The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite

When you mean tap down the patch after a weld do you mean dolly off or dolly on? Thanks again everyone for the encouragement and advice keep it coming

_________________
SPO41 Mk2 Cooper S very original
1993 R32 Nissan Skyline GTR